The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-09-24
KILLED BY CORSETS.
n Physiological Lesson Doduced
From q London Inquest.
History 81 an ImpOrtnbt Article "f Femi-
min. Wrar-Opinions Of the Great Ma
poleon--What Eminent surgeons
aud Others Thought of IL,


n single woman, lifty-two year, Of age,
residing in the Gloucester road, Re-
gont- Park, who died suddenly the
preceding 5und2y evening rs she was
leaving Park Chapel. The hoHse sur
gcon Of the Northwest London ilospi-
tal, who bad made an examination Of
the body, testified before the coroner
that she was a woman who had iaLcl
VERY tightly. IN fact, she must at all
times have found ordinary respiration
timatcly, the lungs not being allowed
free play, blood vessel had burst,
producing syncOpe aud death. The jury
returned a verdict IN accordance with
iho evidence, and we are entitled To ask
whether the most recent addition 10 the
list Of victims 10 tight lacing will have
any influence in staying the prevalence
0f "A barbarOus and misChicyOu5 fash.
ion. II II much, however, 10 bc feared
that all the hOmilics Of tho medical iaug
ulty, reiterated over and over again,
will fail 10 persuade ladies that tight
lacn0 is sure means Of running their
hCal'h and very often ha, fatal results;
whilo It viii b0 quite ~ difficult 70 per-
suadc the fair sex that the vast majOr-
ity Of sensible men look upon an "hour-
gla--' or wasp waist aS not only ug-
Is, but ridiculous The instrument of
construction applied 10 the chest was an
invention Of dcplaycd vanity, with u
view of giving to the female figure u
eupvosod ljghtucSs which il ought not to
pOszc-s, Or 20 rOuocal some driplmilicS
which stays very frequently aggraNatc
instead Of allaymg. jean Jacques
Rousseau with all the power Of his
gcuil, and all the warmth OF the inter
est which ho took in youth, exposed
the lamcntablc corruption of taste
which asserts that the figure Is excel.
lcnt in proportion To the smaIIncss of
Che w;,s This philosopher of Geneva
exercised more social influence per-
haps in his time than any writer ia
Europe. and for while stays went out
of fashion in France. Stiff corsets were
still worn bv the ladies of the old court.
but sensible mothers came to u COM
mon agreement that their daughters
should subject themselves 10 this vol
untary punishment a. aS late a period
rs possible, and not until their we'd
ding day were they allowed To wear
stays. The Revolution swept away the
corset altogether, rs well rs hoop pet.
tcoats; hut stays again made thoir ap-
pcarancc toward the end Of the First
Empire. A very harmless affair,
scarcely broader than the fascim
mamillarcs of the Romans. was the
ympcral bodice, for waists were then
worn excessively -hGit and the stays
were without husks. stiif pieces oi
whalcbonc or steel plates. Modified,
however, pS they were, the strong
common sense uf NAPOLEON rcyoltcd
against the rcintruductiOn Of the gar
mcnt. Corvisart,' said the ruler,
whose business il was To know every
thing. to hi, physician, 1.-THE corset is
coquctry of the worst taste; it fortunes
women aud maltrcats their progeny; it
means friNolity, IL horalds dccadcncc. "
These words were full of sagacity.
but when the mysterious dccrcCs of
fashion -drcrcpS which are rs occult as
those of fatc--hrought uhou, tho re-
vival of long waists, tight stays be-
came once more the mode, and the fc-
male chest was bruised 10y that dread
full instrument of torment, the steel
husk. which had originally been
brought into France i'm 1892 hy Cath
arinc dc Mcdicis. The huSk was
long. Hat, rigid strip of wood or
whalrhDnr, and some times of metal.
The old surgeons, Rodcrick and AM
broisc Pare, had inycighcd against it,
Montaignc and Riolau had laughed at
il; the Abhc Outlet had preached
against it. and the Emperor Joseph
had strivcu TO drive il ont of Austria by
ordaining that all women leading inn
moral lives should wear stays with still
husks. Medical warnings. satire, SER
mons. cdicts of police, had all been in
vain.
In the present epoch. although tight
lacing j. fcarfully prevalent, and Is
slaying lis thousands of silly votaricS
cvcly year, tho busk has ceased 90 he
an instrument of torture. 1t j. nm in
tcgrnl part of the corset, whereas the
old husk. which was covered with
chamois leather. could hc made To slide
n aud ont i'm vertical tuck in the
front of the stays, The modern busk
is fastened and divided down tho mid
die like the tree of Mexican saddle; il
i madc of very flexible steel, which
should give To every movement of the
body. and "pcr So" it j. u wholly in
nocuous portion of the corset The
mischief aud the peril are ut the back.
fif:Y wears ago London staymakcr
named Mills introduced an improved
formation of stay-making, the texture
elastic. and wholly banishing upright
pieces. but the greatest of evils escaped
and continues to escape remedy. Near
" all staymakcrs render the structure
of the corset sufficiently narrow TO al
low of its being drawn at the back far
too tight for the health of the wearer.
Sensible ladies leave the permanent
lacing of the interval at the back OF
their stays untouched. That interval.
according To high authority. should
not be less than an inch in breadth. so
90. J., Lava ga, a,,fual aplup,n uurnV.